Art and Soulie Spot 9 

Stories from the Creative Path

Sally McKern’s Creative Circle of Life continued…

Click here for the story so far (Part One).

Part Two

So now my baby girl daughter is 23 and I am 46

She is a beautiful young goddess in her own right.

Looking back on all of this now I am realising that these creative moments were crucial points in my development.

These experiences went a long way in defining who I became as an adult and who I am today.

My beautiful son is now 19 and he is also out in the world doing his own thing in the big city like his sister, hundreds of miles from my home in the country. I am not so identified now with the mother archetype, not in the same way I was when the kids were growing up. Now my holding and guiding is done from a distance and there is more letting go and observing.

All these years

I have been on Sally’s email list about her playshops in Sydney. I have always enjoyed receiving them. Her creative, playful

‘kindful-ness’

comes across and awakens the same in me and makes me smile.

As you can probably see, my dear Mum has shown me the importance of creativity and fostered in me

a yearning for soulfulness.

She has always had some kind of artful project on the go, and has encouraged the same in myself and my two sisters, who are both creative spirits too. When my kids were little my Mum spent regular quality time with them and creative art and craft-play was always part of the picture. Now that they are big she also finds interesting creative ways to spend time with them.

And let’s not forget my Dad in all this arty talk too! He is a very practical and pragmatic person and he doesn’t think of himself as creative but he totally is! He creates everything himself. He custom built his home and it’s full of clever touches that personalise it to his and Mum’s needs. He is always busy with some kind of project and it’s mostly something that will improve the life of a family member or friend and all because he’s a very creative person. He has also always made time to spend with his grandkids on special projects. Recently he helped one of his granddaughters design and make a large portable bee-hive.

Now that both my kids are living in Sydney, as does my Mum and my sisters, there is

a seed of a dream

in me for us all to attend a Sally playshop together one day. When I put this to Sally she was so encouraging and welcoming and asked if I’d like to write something for her blog about creativity, mothers, daughters etc… so this is that!

We are in the process of finding a time for the Family Playshop, and it is so wonderful to know that Sally is open to this idea.

Thank you Sally for continuing to be a true muse across three generations and after all these years. May all Beings have a Sally Swain-like muse in their lives to remind them of the primordial juice and frivolity that underpins Life.

Love (another) Sally! xox

Let’s round up this two-part Sally McKern creativity circle story

with love, art and soul from the original Sally
(well, original in the sense of the one you usually hear from)

So here’s a wee watercolour experiment that I feel complements Sally M’s gorgeous swirly spirals.